By MATMEN, Monday, 2:20 p.m.
TALLAHASSEE — There wasn’t much gap between champion Lincoln, runnerup Manatee and third-place Clay in Saturday’s Trojan Invitational duals tournament.
But the Trojans were able to find a way, both times, to knock off the fellow powerhouse teams — and also take wins over Nease, Manatee’s B team and Leon — and win the championship trophy.
Lincoln improved to 12-4 in duals for the season behind wins over Leon (77-6), Nease (53-21), Manatee B (75-6), Manatee (34-33) and Clay (42-38), in succession.
Four Trojan wrestlers — Joe Tucker (8th-2A at 106, 4 pins), Vaniel Caceres (10th-2A at 113, 2 pins & tech), Connor Edwards (3rd-2A at 152, competing at 160; 2 pins/major/decision) and Jakob Nowak (4th-2A at 195, 2 pins/tech/decision) — were all 5-0 on the day.
Jashawn Washington (14th-2A at 126, pin & decision), Zaire Fernanders-Jackson (138/145, 2 pins/win by DQ/decision), Vincent Crump (145/152, 3 pins), Kendrick Scott (220, 2 pins & decision) and Ryder Luck (13th-2A at 285, 2 pins) were all 4-1 on the day. Wesley Smitha (152, 2 pins & decision) was 3-0 in a regular role, while Zakary Jurado (120, decision) and Israel Williams (170, 2 pins) were both 3-2.
After falling in round 1 to Manatee, 39-34, Clay (15-5) took one-sided wins over Manatee B (71-12), Leon (70-12) and Nease (66-12) before falling to the Trojans in the final round.
Clay had four unbeaten wrestlers, three going 5-0 in Jacob Bucci (1st-2A at 106, 5 pins; he was the only local competitor to pin his way through the day), Rylan Herrera (120, 4 pins & decision) and Will Kelly (285, 3 pins & decisioon).
Kedtric Wilbourn (5th-2A at 220, 2 pins/tech/major) was 4-0 for the Blue Devils, while Drew Holmquist (113, 2 pins/tech/decision), Dominic Martin (5th-2A at 182, competing at 170; 3 pins & decision) and Aaron Stacey (195, 4 pins) all were 4-1. Vontae Burke (132, 3 pins), DJ Williams (145, 2 pins & tech) and Tayshaun Tate (152, 3 pins) each had 3-2 records.
Nease (8-12) was fourth in the tournament, with wins over Manatee B (48-30) and Leon (60-6), with an additional loss to Manatee (65-9).
Parker Stamschror (14th-3A at 138) was the St Johns Panthers’ lone 5-0 wrestler, with 3 pins and 2 decisions on the day. Jacob Lutz (9th-3A at 160, 4 pins) was 4-1, and Alan Rivera (20th-3A at 170, 3 pins) had a 3-2 tournament.
Leon (0-7) took losses additionally against Manatee (84-0) and Manatee B (45-24); the Lions did have one wrestler finish above .500 on the day, as Santana Harris (182, 4 pins) compiled a 4-1 tournament record.
Complete box scores for each dual can be found HERE. All rankings from https://www.kabrawrestling.com/rankings
North Florida Matmen 